Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel show No Reservations had an episode on Italian and Italian-American cooking. At the very end, Bourdain interviewed the co-owners of a traditional Italian restaurant in New York City. Traditional in attitude, if not necessarily cuisine. As the owners described it, they sought to make food the way people in Italy do: not with flown in fish, but with what is on hand. Kosher pickles from the Jewish deli, vegetables from Chinatown etc.
Today, after watching the farmer haul my Christmas tree over to and on top of my car, I had worked up quite the appetite. Having not stopped at Tops I had to make due with what was in the fridge. What was on hand. In this case, it was a container of white rice with some soy sauce mixed in and a package of Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Mexican Chipotle vegetarian sausage, from Abundance Cooperative Market. Sauteed in olive oil on the stove-top, it took mere minutes.
For a meal like this, I like to use the ol' family heirloom bowl. Hidden way on the top shelf is the dish that my Italian-American grandfather sopped his marinara out of. Bart Monte Verde died before I was born, so this is the only part of him I've ever known. To my sadness I noticed a thin crack developing. (Dad, if you're reading, I swear I was gentle with it and never put it through the dishwasher!) Clearly this had to be its last meal.
It was simple, quick and Mexican-Chinese-American. Prepared with what I had in the kitchen (olive oil, salt, care) it came out excellently. A perfectly Italian retirement.
Today, after watching the farmer haul my Christmas tree over to and on top of my car, I had worked up quite the appetite. Having not stopped at Tops I had to make due with what was in the fridge. What was on hand. In this case, it was a container of white rice with some soy sauce mixed in and a package of Field Roast Grain Meat Co. Mexican Chipotle vegetarian sausage, from Abundance Cooperative Market. Sauteed in olive oil on the stove-top, it took mere minutes.
For a meal like this, I like to use the ol' family heirloom bowl. Hidden way on the top shelf is the dish that my Italian-American grandfather sopped his marinara out of. Bart Monte Verde died before I was born, so this is the only part of him I've ever known. To my sadness I noticed a thin crack developing. (Dad, if you're reading, I swear I was gentle with it and never put it through the dishwasher!) Clearly this had to be its last meal.
It was simple, quick and Mexican-Chinese-American. Prepared with what I had in the kitchen (olive oil, salt, care) it came out excellently. A perfectly Italian retirement.
